Airlines

Avelo contracts to fly ICE deportation flights

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Avelo under fire for contracting with ICE for deportation flights

The U.S. government usually contracts with charter companies for deportation flights. And you can read a ProPublica account of those flights here.

But now a commercial budget airline, Houston-based Avelo, has a contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Control and Enforcement agency (ICE) to operate deportation flights out of Arizona’s Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport beginning in mid-May, according to the Associated Press and others.

In a statement, Avelo airline CEO Andrew Levy said the company decided to support ICE’s efforts because it would help with Avelo’s expansion and would protect jobs, but acknowledged the move “is a sensitive and complicated topic.”

Avelo is currently recruiting staff for these flights with a job listing on its site that explains Avelo will be operating a charter program for the Department of Homeland Security and that flights will be both domestic and international “to support DHS’s deportation efforts.”

At the same time, Avelo has announced it will be pulling up stakes Boise Airport (BOI) as of April 27, according to the Idaho Statesman, and at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport (STS) as of May 1, according to The Press Democrat.

Petition to boycott Avelo Airlines

A Change.org petition launched by the New Haven Immigrant Heritage Coalition demands that Avelo Airlines halt deportation flight plans in cooperation with the Trump Administration. (Avelo operates flights out of Tweed Airport near New Haven).

“We pledge to boycott the airline until they stop plans to profit off ICE flights that are tearing families and communities apart and removing some legal residents….” the petition states.

Get rewarded for dressing like your Condor plane

Airlines,

We’re big fans of Condor Airlines’ colorfully striped livery which is inspired by the colors and accoutrements of summer, such as beach towels, ice cream parlors and parosols, according to the carrier.

Now Condor is celebrating the third anniversary of the introduction of its striped livery with a special “Match The Stripes” contest.

Condor unveiled its striped livery on April 4, 2022 and this year, from April 4 to April 30, the airline will be gifting €10 vouchers (about $10.78) to the first 1000 passengers who dress in a striped color shirt, dress or jacket that matches the stripes on their airplane.

The voucher can be used immediately on board the airplane towards the purchase of a drink or snack.

But how will you know know what color stripes will be on you aircrat?

Easy. Condor will tell you.

  1. Two days before a flight, you can search online here to find out which aircraft you will be flying.
  2. Once you know what aircraft you’re flying, you can see what colored stripes it has here.
  3. And once you know what color stripes will be on your plane, you can choose a striped, color-coordinated shirt or dress to wear on the plane.

There are some rules and restrictions, of course, but ‘winners’ will also receive a voucher code to use with the My Postcard app to create a photo postcard of their matchy-match look.

We’re entering Condor Airlines’ dress-like-the-plane promotion in the contest for Airline Amenity of the Week!

Do you love the scent of the airport?

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Have you ever wished that you or your home would smell just like your favorite airport or airline?

It’s not such a far-fetched idea.

Back in 2012, we saw the debut of a line of 19 city-centric scents named for their airport city codes — CDG (Paris), LHR (London), DXB (Dubai) — and packaged in slender bottles with labels that looked like baggage tags, bar codes and all.

The Scent of Departure line no longer seems to exist, but it seemed like a charming travel souvenir.

Linking scents with airports – and airlines – is still a thing.

In mid-January Air France introduced a signature fragrance now being spritzed in its La Première (first class) lobby, a handful of lounge areas at Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) and onboard aircraft in the La Première suites.

Named AF001 as a nod to the Concorde flights that traveled between New York and Paris in the late 1970s, the bespoke scent will soon waft through other Air France lounges in Paris and around the world.

What does AF001 smell like?

According to Air France, it has a “comforting, musky scent, combined with mimosa from the south of France” that adds “a sunny, natural vibrancy.”

Air France may have the newest bespoke fragrance in the skies, but as we shared in a story we first wrote for The Points Guy site, there are other airlines and airports with their own special scents.

Dubai-based Emirates worked with Irish brand Voya on a bespoke Eau de Toilette fragrance used on flights in First and Business Class.

Singapore Airlines signature scent is called Batik Flora and was created by Singapore-based Scent by SIX. The fragrance draws its floral notes from the six flowers in the batik motif featured on the airline’s uniforms.

Singapore’s Changi Airport also has its own signature fragrance, called Changi Scent, which smells like orchid, geranium, mint, citrus and Asian spices.

And Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific worked with Australian scent marketing agency Air Aroma on a signature scent that features lavender, jasmine, bamboo, juniper berry, tea leaves, white musk and cedarwood.

Tampa International Airport (TPA) wanted a fragrance that could reflect the Tampa Bay Region. They settled on Scent Air’s “Bamboo Tea,” which has notes of green Bergamot (an Italian citrus fruit), Jasmine, Neroli (the blossom of the bitter orange tree), Musk and Tree Moss.

Smelled any good airports? Let us know.

Donate money or miles to wildfire relief efforts

Airlines,

The wildfires in the Southern California Metro area are causing widespread devastation.

Support is flowing in. But more is needed.

Here are a few ways you can join airlines in contributing money or miles.

Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines are donating $100,000 to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and five million Mileage Plan miles to the American Red Cross for disaster relief related to the Los Angeles wildfires.

You can contribute donate miles, with all donations matched up to five million miles until January 17, 2025. Here’s a link to get started.

From now through January 22, 2025, American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn 10 bonus miles for every dollar donated to the Red Cross with a minimum $25 donation.

More than one million dollars has been raised already. Here’s the link to make your contribution.

Delta Air Lines is contributing $1 million to the American Red Cross to help those affected by the wildfires sweeping across California.

Delta customers can contribute to the Red Cross as well through the airline’s Red Cross microsite.

 

United Airlines has donated $100,000 to two local California nonprofits, the LA Regional Food Bank and California Fire Foundation. The carrier will match additional donations up to $150,000 and 5 million miles. Here’s a link to make your contribution.

What’s ahead for airlines & passengers in 2025?

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What’s ahead for airlines?

This week IATA, the International Air Transport Association, released its 2025 outlook, covering everything from the number of people expected to fly, to financial outlooks for the industry and the progress (or not…) on the industry’s goal of producing enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help airlines combat climate change.

Here are some highlights:

5.2 billion people are expected to take to the skies during 2025. That’s a 6.7% increase over 2024 and the first time the total expected passengers will exceed the 5 billion mark.

IATA expects the average airfare in 2025 to be $380, which is 1.8% lower than 2024.

In 2025, global airline industry revenues will exceed $1 trillion for the first time, representing almost 1% of the global economy. Airlines also have $940 billion in costs and retain a net profit margin of just 3.6%, said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General, “Put another way, the buffer between profit and loss, even in the good year that we are expecting of 2025, is just $7 per passenger.”

Airlines face some significant risks

IATA notes that there are strong geopolitical and economic uncertainties facing the airline industry, including multiple conflicts around the world and the incoming Trump Administration, which could create tariffs and trade wars that dampen both air cargo demand and business travel.

Is there a path to Net Zero?

In 2021, the global airline industry committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from their operations by 2050.

Offsets and carbon capture as well as new technologies such as electric and hydrogen are elements of the plan, but the production of enough sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is the major component.

Unfortunately, while the amount of sustainable aviation fuel being produced is increasing, it’s going slower than planned.

“Governments are sending mixed signals to oil companies which continue to receive subsidies for their exploration and production of fossil oil and gas,” said IATA’s Willia Walsh, “And investors in new generation fuel producers seem to be waiting for guarantees of easy money before going full throttle.”